One wholesale trade show we almost always attend is the
ASD show in Las Vegas,
(March 11-14, 2018). We had planned to attend this year, but my wife fell
and injured her wrist. The injury is not that serious, but it does make
handling luggage problematic, so we are going to pass this year.

I know several of my readers were hoping to meet us there, which is always
something I always enjoy. So I am sorry we will have to miss you this year.

Ebay 2018 operating and policy update. eBay recently announced their 2018
Spring Update. eBay has adopted the sensible policy of making changes twice
per year (Spring and early Fall), but the Spring Update has usually been
the one with the greater changes. This year's Spring Update contains some
real doozies. You can
read the update here.
The first change regarding inventory optimization is especially horrible
for sellers. And the new eBay store fees will not bring joy either.

I have always been a fan of Amazon support, until recently that is. In a
previous issue I wrote about how bad Amazon seller support has been
recently. I can't tell you specifically when it started to go bad -but I am
guessing about 6 months ago.

It seems whenever I open a support ticket, the first answer I get is almost
always not only wrong -it is usually completely non-responsive to the issue
I raised. When I see the answer, it is obvious the support rep did not take
the time to read the ticket, because their answer is often about a
different subject than the one I raised. And, over 50% of the time, the
answer is just a link to a policy.

Whenever this happens, I always re-open the ticket and request that my
issue be elevated to someone who is knowledgeable. This usually works and
those responses often start by apologizing for the incorrect information I
was sent.

In December the Gallup Polling Organization asked the following question:
"Do You Do Your Holiday Shopping Early, Or Wait Until The Last Minute?"
Answer: Shop Early - 68% Wait until the last minute - 32%

Seller University Video Course
. The Amazon Seller University Videos have replaced the old seller manual.
Most of the info is pretty basic, but sometimes that is what you need. The
videos are all pretty short and each is focused on one topic -and, there
are over 20 topics covered. Once you log into into Seller Central you can
access these videos
here.

More about the new coupon program. I wrote about the new coupon program in
the last two issues. First of all, the program does work. My results were
not spectacular, but better than OK. I did learn two new things.

Several categories are restricted from the coupon program, but
Amazon will not tell us which they are. (I have no idea why they do
this). If you set up a coupon on an item that is restricted from
coupons, the system will flag that.

When Amazon makes a mistake and overcharges you, they tell you that
is too bad -no refunds. Here is an email I got from Amazon a few
days ago:

Amazon raising Storage fees beyond the last February announcement. These
could be real profit killers.

Here is what Amazon just announced (the Amazon links below require a Seller Central login):

Monthly Inventory Storage Fees: Starting April 1, 2018, monthly
inventory storage fees will be increased by $0.05 per cubic foot
for standard-size and oversize items. This change will first be
reflected in May 2018 charges for storage that occurs in April
2018. See the
Monthly Inventory Storage Fees section for more details.

Long-Term Storage Fees: Starting September 15, 2018, long-term
storage fees will be adjusted and the assessment dates will be
changed from a semi-annual basis to a monthly basis. See the
Long-Term Storage Fees section for more details.

Minimum Long-Term Storage Fees: On August 15, 2018, we will
introduce a minimum charge of $0.50 per unit per month for items in
fulfillment centers for 365 days or more. The greater of the
applicable total long-term storage fee or minimum long-term storage
fee will be charged. See the
Minimum Long-Term Storage Fees
section for more details.

We have been 100% FBA sellers for the past four years. Maybe it's time to
reevaluate that? More info in this
eCommerceBytes Blog Post.

eBay policy has always been to give sellers one free relist on items that
don't sell. However, I saw a post on Facebook from a seller who was being
charged for this. Several other ebay sellers commented this happened to
them also. If this happens to you, open a support request and eBay will
make an adjustment. You can link to your latest fee statement in your
seller hub.

I often see questions from readers and in Facebook Groups about how
wholesale sourcing works. If you are going to sell online (eBay, Amazon,
Website, etc.), then it is important you understand the basics.

The first thing you need to understand is: There is no such thing as a
"true wholesale price."

A "wholesale" price is any price you can buy at, that allows you to make a
profit when you mark it up. Let me give you an example: If you go into
Wal-Mart and buy a toy on clearance at 70% off, and the same toy is still
selling near full price on eBay or Amazon, then the price you pay at
Wal-Mart is your wholesale price even thought you bought it at a retail
store.

In more general terms used by sellers, wholesale sources usually mean
buying products at wholesale (a percentage off of retail), to retail at
full retail price or close to it. The most typical wholesale pricing policy
is 50% off of retail, but there are wholesale sources (jewelry for example)
that give larger margins and a few that provide less. When you buy
something that allows you to double your cost to get retail price, that is
known in the industry by the term Keystoning.

OK - Let's look at the different types of wholesale suppliers:

Manufacturer
- There are many manufacturing companies in the US and overseas who
will sell to you directly. When you do this, you are usually
getting the lowest wholesale price. In the US these companies tend
to be smaller specialty companies, whereas overseas they will be
larger companies

Importer
- An importer is much like a stocking distributor (see below). They
import goods in very large quantities (such as a full shipping
container), then break the product up into case lots (typically
from 12 to 24 each) and wholesale them to retailers. I deal with
one such company that imports and sells backpacks, luggage and
similar products. Their prices tend to be a higher than a direct
manufacturer, but a little better than a distributor.

Stocking Distributor
- A true distributor usually purchases and stocks products they buy
from manufacturers. Then, they mark up the products and resell to
retailers (both online and offline).

For example, a distributor might buy a product from a manufacturer for
$4.00 each, mark it up to you at $6.00 each, and this allows you to resell
at $11.99 to $12.99. When a manufacturer works with a stocking distributor,
they will usually not sell directly to you unless you are a large chain
store that can buy several truckloads at a time.

Commission distributor or Manufacturer's Rep Firm
- Not all distributors buy products and stock them. Some of them
(often called manufacturer's rep firms) buy just enough products to
fill a showroom where you can see, touch and feel products. They
sell to resellers like you, at a price that allows you to double
(or sometimes more than double) the wholesale price to sell at
retail. When they make a sale, the manufacturer pays them a
commission that can vary from 5% to 12%.

Liquidation and Closeout companies
- The last issue of my newsletter was my
annual liquidation sourcing issue.
If you recall, Liquidators are companies that buy excess
merchandise from manufacturers and stores at pennies on the dollar
and sell to resellers like you and me.

Wholesale Clubs
- These are places like Costco, Sam's Club, BJ's or Big Lots. These
companies sell all kinds of products at steep discounts that can
allow you to buy at a cost that may be higher than a manufacturer
or distributor, but low enough to resell at a profit. Sometimes
they will be brand name products, but often they are house brands.
For example, Costco's house brand is called Kirkland. If you type
Kirkland into the Amazon search box, you will get over 10,000
products. Here is an example of a top selling Kirkland product on
Amazon (You can find them on eBay as well). This one has an Amazon
Best Sellers Rank of: #2,696 in Grocery & Gourmet Food.

I can't remember the exact cost at Costco, but I think it's in the $9.00
range and this seller is selling it for $18.99, just slightly over a 100%
markup.

The last type of wholesale source isn't really a wholesale source. But,
when you buy a book at a Garage sale for $1.00 and sell it for $6.99 on
eBay or Amazon, then your wholesale cost is $1.00. Essentially any garage
sale in your town is a potential source.

Another example is when you find an item selling cheaply on eBay that you
can buy and resell on eBay or Amazon for more. Here is an example: I used
to sell a lot of collectible Starbucks mugs. I saw a fairly rare mug on
eBay where the seller obviously didn't understand the real value. I bought
it for $9.99 plus $5.00 shipping and sold it for nearly $200. So,
$9.99+$5.00 ($15.99) was my wholesale price.

There are some distinct advantages when buying from repeatable wholesale
sources:

Save time. When I run low on stock, I can reorder by phone or email

If I am selling the same product over and over, I only have to take
one photo, and write one description. This also saves time.

Most products come with UPC (or EAN) codes so I don't have to buy
them unless I am bundling

I used to do a lot of garage sale and retail store sourcing, but got tired
running around all the time, so now I concentrate on buying repeatable
wholesale products. (Although we still buy occasionally from Costco because
we shop there and it is not a special trip).

A lot of people blog because it entertains them, or it strokes their ego.
But what you may not realize is that many bloggers earn a substantial
income from their blogs. This can vary from $500 to $1000 a month for a
small blogger, or up to $50,000 or more per month, for larger or, more
prolific bloggers. So how can you do this?

The industry term for making money from a blog is monetizing your blog.
Let's look at a few ways to do that.

Almost all successful blogs are specialized in a niche. So step one is to
figure out what subject/topic niche you are going to cover. It should be
narrow enough that there are not very many competitors, yet broad enough
that there is a market.

Examples of Niche Topics

Rather than a general blog on quilting, you could specialize in something
such as applique quilting techniques. Or do a blog that reviews tools and
accessories for quilters.

If you like cooking and want to write a food blog, I suggest you pick a
specialty such as Spanish Cooking, Vietnamese Cooking or Middle Eastern
Cooking. Cuisines such as Italian or Mexican are probably too competitive,
although you could break it down such as Mexican Street food or the The
Cooking of Northern Italy.

There are already tons of blogs about fly fishing, but perhaps you could do
something such as Fly Fishing for Salmon, or Fly Fishing the Yellowstone
River.

If you want to make money from a blog, the first thing you need is traffic
-or what some people call getting the eyeballs. This means, that
no matter what your subject, you will need content that people want to read
and will come back for over and over. This same content should be
searchable from the web when people are looking for information on your
topic.

Sources of revenue:

Google Adsense
- Google has an advertising program where they place ads on pages that
relate to the content of your page. For example, if your content was about
Traveling in Ireland, Google may place ads for hotels, tours or canal
cruises in Ireland.

Advertisers bid on the cost of clicks on these ads. So. If one of these ads
appears on a page in your blog and someone clicks on it, Google will pay
you a generous commission. Each click may only earn a few cents to a
dollar, but if you get hundreds or thousands of clicks per month, the money
can really add up quickly. My last check from Google was about $1000 and
that was from just one blog.

Google Adsense examples from a travel blog about Ireland

Affiliate Marketing
- This is where you place a text link or banner on your blog, and if
someone clicks on it and decides to purchase the product, you get a large
commission.

There are three keys to making really good money from affiliate text links
or ads:

Trust. Your readers have to trust you, and your recommendations.

Relevant to the content. If your blog is about how to make wooden toys
and you are recommending credit cards or cancer cures, then your readers will
not take you seriously.

Integrity. The programs or products you recommend should not be
junk or scams. The best and fastest way to make a lasting income
from affiliate marketing it to build credibility with your readers
and only recommend things that will truly benefit them. My personal
policy is: If I would not recommend something to a close friend or
family member, then I wont recommend it to my readers either.

Build Blogs and sell them
- If you become good at creating niche blogs that make money, there are
plenty of people who will pay you good money, so they don't have to
reinvent the wheel. Small niche blogs with even a basic level of traffic
can often sell in the range of $1,000 to $5,000. Larger blogs with a proven
record of traffic and sales can bring upwards of $50,000 to $100,000, and
even more.

Sell your own digital products
-People are willing to pay top dollar for information. Once you build
trusting readership and traffic, you have a built-in market to sell you own
digital products such as eBooks, Video courses or DVDs. The same factors,
Trust, Relevance and Integrity that work for affiliate marketing go into
successful digital product marketing.

I once saw a blog about the Civil War. The blogger was selling a guide book
to the best B & B's located near famous Civil War battlefields.

Write Tutorials
- In-depth tutorials can result in a ton of inbound links and social
shares. They can also be a great way to earn income. For example:

Include affiliate links for the products you use in your tutorial

Promote your own products (eBooks, videos, etc.)

Make an agreement with an advertiser (for money) to promote a
certain product (Make sure to let your readers know it is a
sponsored post).

There are actually many more ways to monetize a blog. These are the most
common, but I have just scratched the surface. I remember back when I was
researching my blog, I came across an online article that said something
like 20 or 25 ways to make money blogging (Google and you can probably find
it).

The easiest and most common way to quickly and effortlessly create a blog
is with Wordpress. When you go to their website, they will try and sell you
on all sorts of fancy (and unnecessary) products. The basic software is
free, and if you need help making your first blog, post a request on
Fivver
and you will find a ton of low-cost help.

Personally, I do a lot of bundles and have found them to be highly
profitable. Amazon has long had a bundle policy. Frankly -although they
have a lot of rules, they have not enforced them very often. But, that is
changing. Amazon has put the word out they will soon begin doing so.
Enforcement will consist of removing listings and in some cases suspending
sellers who consistently violate the policy.

Here is Amazon's Bundle policy with my comments in colored Italics:

No bundles are allowed where the primary product in the bundle is a
book, video game, music, video, DVD product. They can be secondary products
- ones that enhance the primary product. For example - you can list a set
of Rachael Ray Cookware with a Rachael Ray cookbook, as long as the
cookware is more expensive than the book and you list it in the Home &
Kitchen category -not the books category.
Amazon is very serious about this one.

Bundles must adhere to Amazon's selling policies/guidelines for each
category the products fall within.

Items in bundle must be highly complementary. Sticking a random item into a
bundle is a no-no. It needs to make sense. You just cannot put a mishmash
of products together -they must be complimentary and make sense.

Your bundle needs to be listed in ONE category. If in doubt, choose the
category of the highest priced item in the bundle. Again, this cannot be a
book, DVD, video game, music, or video.
Again, this is a rule they police aggressively.

The bundle must have its own standard product identifier or manufacturer
part number separate from any item in the bundle. You are responsible for
obtaining a UPC for each bundle you create. Amazon recommends you get your
codes from GS1, but that is not mandatory. However, if you use a brand
name, the UPC code prefix must match that company. For example, if you
bundled a Cuisinart food processor with a set of cooking utensils and you
put Cuisinart down as the brand, then you would need a UPC code that
matches Cuisinart which could prove impossible to get. Instead, put your
own PL brand name in the listing as the brand and manufacturer.
Ditto.

Do not include generic items in a bundle. Each product in the bundle must
have a brand name, but put that in the bullets and description. If you put
it in the title or brand name field, then you would need a UPC code
matching that brand -unless it is your own private label brand.
If any item in the bundle is generic, I use my own PL brand.

If you list under another seller's bundle it must be exactly the same in
every respect including packaging. If yours is slightly different, you must
create a new bundle listing. An existing listing cannot be changed to align
to the specifications of your new bundle. For example, you see a bundle
that comes in a red gift box. You must use the identical gift box. You
cannot use a white one instead.
This is actually a benefit to you because it makes it harder for others
to copy your bundle.

Bundle components and listings cannot be changed once they are created.

Bundles can't include separate warranty products or extended service plans.
This is a huge no-no on Amazon.
Only Amazon is allowed to sell warranties -not sellers.

Bundle Title & Listing Rules

Bundle title length should align to title length rules in Amazon's
listing policy. This policy allows listings with a title length of
maximum 200 characters (including spaces) in all U.S. categories.

Include the word "Bundle" and the number of items in the bundle:
Espresso Barista's Accessory Tool Kit Bundle - Tamper, Utility
Brush, Machine Cleaning Brush and Frothing Pitcher with Thermometer
- 3 Items
Amazon has not enforced this in the past, but they may start
doing so.

If the bundle includes several items, list the primary and
secondary items in the title, along with the total number of items
in the bundle. In these cases, the entire bundle component
information must be listed in the bullet points within the bundle
details.

The first Bullet on the detail page for your bundle must state that
it is a bundle of X items and identify the products in the bundle.
Amazon is serious about this one.

The description in the detail page must state that it is a bundle
and must also identify the products in the bundle with appropriate
designators such as model number, color and size. Ditto.

The main image must include the specific products in the bundle and
must not include items that are not included in the bundle. You
can't use representative or similar products.
This is another rule Amazon has hardly enforced in the past,
but the new policy may change that.

As I said at the beginning, Amazon will now be enforcing a lot of these
rules. So this is something you should pay attention to, if you bundle
products to sell.

Amazon recently sent the following email to all Food sellers on Amazon:

Starting March 28, all sellers who sell grocery items must indicate if
their product contains an expiration date. In the inventory file template
for new ASINs, change the value of the "is_expiration_dated_product" field
to "True" or "False" accordingly. If you set the value to "True," then
update the FC (Fulfillment Center) shelf life attribute with the length of
time an item remains sellable or usable for consumption.

If you sell in the food, and/or Health & Beauty category, Amazon has
just changed their expiration date policy. I strongly suggest you read and
understand the entire policy.

I found their explanation of the policy to be a little confusing, because a
lot of my items already had an existing listing in the Amazon catalog.
Every time I tried to change one of those listings to comply, the system
blocked me from entering any data that was not on the Offer Page. So, I
reached out to Amazon support for help. Their explanations only confused me
more so, I am doing further research on this and am waiting for some
answers from support. When I understand this better will be writing more
about this in a future issue.
You can see the policy here,
(Must be logged into your account to view this page).

We all use digital cameras these days -or at least most of us do. However,
there are millions of people in the US and around the world who still use,
and prefer, old fashion film cameras. Many of them are hobbyists and
collectors.

eBay is probably the best venue for old film cameras and lenses, although I
have seen some listings on Amazon as well. Having said that, I think eBay
is the much better venue for used cameras and lenses -especially the older
ones.

Here are some recently sold listings on eBay:

What kinds of cameras sell best?

Almost any pre-2001 film camera will sell well, but the better brands such
as Canon, Nikon, Ashai Pentax and Leica sell the fastest, and bring top
dollar. As for the type of camera, cameras known as Single Lens Reflex
(SLR) probably sell the best, although the market for older Nikon and Leica
rangefinders is also hot. Other highly desirable brands include Hasselblad
and Bronica medium format camera but they tend to be harder to find. I have
also done well with twin-lens reflex cameras.

Some of the lower-cost, but still sellable, brands include Mimaya, Kodak
and Fuji. These cameras have a decent market and you can make money with
them, but they sell for less than the big name brands.

Condition and workability

I have seen non-working (even broken and damaged older cameras As Is for parts-only, sell, but they tend to go for very low
prices. A camera in good working condition will always sell faster and
bring more money. Check the lenses very carefully for scratches, and do not
buy any camera that has them unless you are selling it As-is for Parts.

A camera in good working condition where you still have the original box
and instruction manual will always bring the best price.

Unless you are highly knowledgeable, the only way to be 100% sure
everything is working perfectly is to buy a roll of film, shoot a few
pictures and then have the film developed.

Cleanliness is also very important. When I buy a camera to resell, I wipe
the outside down with a kitchen wipe or damp cloth, and clean the front and
back of the lens with a lens cloth and lens cleaning solution.

Where to find them and what to pay?

I find almost all film cameras at garage sales, moving sales and Estate
sales. I have found the occasional camera at a thrift shop, but not that
often. One thing I do at every garage sale that doesn't have any old
cameras out is ask: "Do you happen to have any old film cameras you would
like to sell?" You will be amazed at how often this works.

People often have unreasonable expectations on what a camera is worth, and
they often ask $50 or $100 or more. These almost never sell at a garage
sale, so I make a habit of going back to those sales later in the day and
offer a more reasonable price.

The last time I came across a twin-lens Bronica, the seller was asking
$150.00. I went back at the end of the day and bought it for $40.00. I
can't remember the exact price, but I think I sold it for around $375. I
also bought a cheaper copy of that same camera by Yashica for $22 and sold
it for around $190.00.

After a while, you will get a feel for what to pay, but until then look on
Terapeak
or eBay sold listings to see what different cameras are worth. I can
sometimes find a $300 + value camera for as little as $10 or $20. But I
often pay up to $75 or even $100 for a well-known, in-demand brand in
really good condition.

(I once paid $150 for an older Leica rangefinder that I sold on eBay for
well over $1,000).

Learning the marketplace

The best way to learn about these old cameras is to talk with someone over
the age of 50 who is a photography buff. You can still find books at the
library that date back to the days of film.

The other place to learn a lot is by reading the auction listings for old
film cameras. They contain a ton of good information -and if you have a
question about a camera in an ongoing listing -just email a question to the
seller. If they are a one-off seller, they will likely know very little, if
anything. But, if they are regular sellers, they will probably know quite a
bit.

What else to look for

Film had to be developed and printed. Probably the largest category of
related products is darkroom equipment. There is also an excellent market
on eBay for those products too. These would include film developers,
enlargers and solution trays.

My regular readers know this, but my reader base grew by over 1000 last
month, and they have not seen this notice about my wholesale sources.

Note: Many of these websites are retail, or display-only websites, or
wholesale sites that require permission to enter. The main reason for this
is wholesale manufacturers and distributors do not want the general public
to see their prices. If you don't see wholesale information, or a link to
register, just use the Contact Us form to send a polite, businesslike email
to request wholesale information.

Veterans Flag Depot
offers flags and flagpoles at the wholesale costs. All their U.S. Flags are
made in the USA. They also sell State flags, specialty flags (MIA/POW,
etc.) and other flag related products.

Bulk Beef Jerky
sells jerky in 1, 5 and 10 pound bags. Their jerky is all natural -and not
just beef. They also sell turkey jerky and exotic jerky from Alligator,
Buffalo, shark and Elk.

Burnt Whiskey
sells everything to do with beards, from actual razors to balms, oils and
grooming products

Iris Sunglasses
has a very nice line of stylish sunglasses and most of their designs can be
private labeled.

First Look NYC
makes and sells handbags, tote bags and luggage for men and women. Many of
their products can be private labeled.

HEAVENDROPT
(part of Evergreen Services) is a nonprofit organization that provides
services to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
HEAVENDROP takes retired military parachutes and employs people with
disabilities to repurpose the parachutes into new products such as pet
bandanas, necklaces, bracelets and more.

Buy 4 Less Electronics Inc.
sells Name-Brand Consumer Electronics, Computer Products, and Photo
products. Both new and refurbished Cameras, DVD Players/Recorders, Audio,
PDAs, MP3 Players, Camcorders. (Be careful, some of the name brands are
restricted on eBay and Amazon).

Cotytech
manufactures and wholesales flat screen TV wall mounts and LCD monitor wall
and desk mounts. They are based in Taiwan but stock many products the US.

Please Note:
Some of the products and
services mentioned in this website, in articles, banner ads and
newsletters and blog posts are for products and services for which I
earn a referral fee or commission. We always evaluate anything we
recommend very carefully and each year we turn down literally dozens
of opportunities to recommend products or services where we can earn
a commission. Even though we earn a fee on some of our
recommendations, we only recommend products and services that we
feel will deliver good value and with rare exceptions, they all come
with a money back guarantee.